


Suspension

by helloearthlings



Series: KFAM Dialogue Prompts [6]
Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 13:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16096496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloearthlings/pseuds/helloearthlings
Summary: “I’m only stopping once every five hours,” Sammy threatens as Ben cracks open his third Mountain Dew. Sammy loves Ben, but when it comes to sugary drinks, Ben is the absolute worst. “You better plan on holding it.”“You’re no fun,” Ben complains, and then continues to chug the soda. Sammy sighs, turning his attention back from the road. “Besides, I’m doing this so I can stay awake and keep you entertained for the next twenty-four hours.”“Twenty-five,” Sammy corrects, his voice verging on griping and Ben shoots him an affectionate but nonetheless shit-eating look from the passenger’s seat.





	Suspension

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue for this one is "Poke me one more time and see what happens." Thanks for reading!

Ben’s already on his third soda and they’re only an hour into the road trip.

“I’m only stopping once every five hours,” Sammy threatens as Ben cracks open his third Mountain Dew. Sammy loves Ben, but when it comes to sugary drinks, Ben is the absolute worst. “You better plan on holding it.”

“You’re no fun,” Ben complains, and then continues to chug the soda. Sammy sighs, turning his attention back from the road. “Besides, I’m doing this so I can stay awake and keep you entertained for the next twenty-four hours.”

“Twenty-five,” Sammy corrects, his voice verging on griping and Ben shoots him an affectionate but nonetheless shit-eating look from the passenger’s seat.

“Someone’s impatient,” Ben sings under his breath and Sammy rolls his eyes. “C’mon, I know you can’t wait to get to DC and see Jack and everything, but we’re roadtripping! It’s meant to be fun! We gotta play the license plate game. Ooh, and the sign game! Did you ever play that one, where you race the other person to see who can find the alphabet in the right order fastest?”

“I have vague recollections,” Sammy says, eyeing Ben as he chugs more Mountain Dew. He’s going to explode from caffeine consumption before they even get out of the Midwest. “Are we starting now?”

“A, B, and C in Jack in the Box!” Ben answers cheerily immediately, pointing to a sign they whoosh by on the interstate. “Have I already distracted you by saying Jack’s name?”

“No,” Sammy says, fighting his blush, but Ben notices immediately, and smiles happily to himself.

“Hey, I miss Jack, too,” Ben says, presumably to help the entirely awkward and uncomfortable feeling in Sammy’s chest. “You only let me talk about Mothman for thirty minute intervals before you cut me off. Jack will listen to me talk for hours. It’s why he’s my only real friend.”

“Shut up,” Sammy says, taking one hand off the wheel to shove Ben’s shoulder. “It’s only because you and Jack are secretly the same person that he can stand you.”

“Uh, no,” Ben snorts. “I mean, not that Jack and I aren’t scary similar. But Jack’s more like. Who I would be if I was taller. And hotter. And gayer. Possibly...the updated version of me?”

“Ew,” Sammy mutters under his breath, making a face at Ben. Ben sticks his tongue out right back. 

“You’re not denying it,” Ben says, obnoxiously slurping the rest of his can of Mountain Dew. Sammy hopes he doesn’t crack open another.

But he immediately reaches into the backseat to grab one.

“Are you really going to make it through the six pack in the first two hours of the trip?” Sammy threatens to change the subject but Ben just gives him a knowing look. 

“Are you really going to not talk about Jack for the  _ whole trip? _ ” Ben lifts an eyebrow, wiggling it in Sammy’s direction. “C’mon, dude. We’re taking a week off from work to go see him. He invited you to come. He  _ wants  _ you to come see him.”

“Wants  _ us  _ to come see him,” Sammy automatically corrects, but all Ben does is roll his eyes in response. 

“Dude, I’m a bystander here at most,” Ben says. “Not that I’m sure Jack won’t be thrilled and all to see me and talk about Mothman this week. But he invited  _ you _ . And then you got nervous and invited me along, too.”

“Did not,” Sammy says reflexively and Ben just snorts. 

“C’mon,” Ben reaches over the divide to poke Sammy’s shoulder repeatedly. “Admit it. Admit that you’re  _ so  _ nervous to see him, because you think maybe this  _ means  _ something - something could  _ happen…”  _

“Poke me one more time and see what  _ happens _ ,” Sammy says, going for somewhere between snide and threatening, but Ben just bursts out laughing.

“What are you gonna do, Dad?” Ben teases. “You gonna turn this car right around?”

“Watch me,” Sammy warns, but something Ben says sticks with him uncomfortably, and when silence starts to permeate, he says, much quieter, “What the hell can happen anyway? He lives in fucking Washington DC.”

“He won’t forever,” Ben says, his voice also quiet, and strangely comforting. “He’s gonna come home when his fellowship’s done.”

“Unless he gets a great job offer there,” Sammy says, and he knows Ben’s turned to look at him, but he stares determinedly out the windshield instead of meeting Ben’s eye. “Or he meets someone.”

“Well,” Ben says, half a beat later. “Maybe - and this is, you know, just a thought - you could  _ tell _ him you want him to come home.”

Sammy’s grip on the steering wheel gets even tighter without him meaning to. “I can’t - I mean, if he gets a big opportunity -”

“Well, if he gets a big opportunity,  _ you  _ could always move  _ there _ ,” Ben tells him, too matter of fact, and Sammy wishes they were having any conversation but this one. “But there is a very easy way to stop him from meeting someone, romantic style, and you know what it is.”

Sammy can’t answer Ben, and stares steadfastly at the road.

“I’ll move there with you,” Ben says suddenly, and that makes Sammy look at him “You know. To deflect attention.”

Sammy can’t help the laugh that bubbles up. “You’d honestly follow me following Jack?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Ben says it like it’s a no-brainer. “But I don’t think it’s gonna come to that. I think Jack’s gonna want to come home when he’s done.”

“What, and come hang out with us in a crappy radio station?” Sammy says, sardonic and self-deprecating and if he’s honest with himself, kind of sadly. Jack’s the smartest guy he knows, Sammy knows whatever his own life is gonna be, it’s never gonna measure up. 

“To be with you? I think Jack would go anywhere,” Ben says, and Sammy waits for the sarcastic jab, but it doesn’t come. 

They’re both quiet, and Sammy wishes he knew what to say, but thankfully Ben breaks the silence first.

“Twenty bucks says Jack hugs you when he sees you,” Ben says. “And not just a bro hug, like - like a real, tight, long hug. Almost a pick you up and spin you around type hug, but not quite. And then he’ll give me a casual bro hug, and you’ll see the difference.”

“Alright, deal,” Sammy says with a second or two’s hesitation, partly just to shut Ben up. 

“Actually, scratch the twenty bucks,” Ben says suddenly, a smile growing on his face, and he reaches toward the driver’s side to start poking at Sammy incessantly again. “If I win, you tell Jack you’re ridiculously head over heels in love with him and you’ve been  _ miserable  _ and  _ moping  _ for the past four months without him.”

“I feel like you’re going to tell that to Jack anyway,” Sammy rolls his eyes, though his heart starts thumping a little faster in his chest. “That second part, at least.”

“I won’t say a word,” Ben says, jabbing Sammy’s shoulder even harder for emphasis. “But if I’m right - you have to at least try to say that. At least tell him you miss him and you can’t wait for him to come home. I think that’ll get the point across. But if you try to be flippant and pretend you’re okay without him, maybe Jack will think you  _ don’t  _ want him back home…”

“Alright, alright!” Sammy says, grabbing Ben’s hand before Ben can poke him again. “Stop with the obnoxious poking! If you’re right and he hugs me like that, I’ll tell him I miss him. Are you happy now?”

“Thrilled,” Ben says, settling back into his seat with a self-satisfied smile, and takes a long, contemplative slurp of Mountain Dew.

Whatever. Sammy’s not going to worry about it, because Ben’s gonna be wrong anyway. Jack’s probably doing amazingly without Sammy, and Sammy’s known for a long time that Jack deserves way better than whatever Sammy can do for him, and he figures Jack knows that, too.

Twenty-four and a half hours later, Ben wins the bet.


End file.
